


Kevin's Cafe

by foxymoley



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Background Destiel, Brief mention of Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, Fluff, Gen, Kevin POV, Loneliness, M/M, Matchmaking, Military Veteran Castiel (Supernatural), Professor Dean Winchester, implied Charlie/Anna, implied Rowena/Gabe, oblivious!Kevin, ridiculous nicknames, trivia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:01:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22612210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxymoley/pseuds/foxymoley
Summary: Kevin Tran runs a trivia night at his campus coffee shop and realises a pair of solo players might be better off together. Cue Charlie and Gabe as co-matchmakers for a story about friendship.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 80





	Kevin's Cafe

**Author's Note:**

> Dean and Cas have zero dialogue in this but are in it from start to finish.
> 
> Many, many thanks to TobytheWise, spnhell and MalMuses for being the absolute best people! ♥ ♥

Blinking awake, Kevin immediately buried his face in his pillow and groaned. As far as he could tell, nothing had woken him. It was his day off so no alarm, he didn't have a cat to bug him for food and no noisy roommates. He dragged an eye open and peered around the room to find it was still dark. 

Knock, knock! 

An insistent knock, as if it were the second, or third. 

"Arrglrle…" he cleared his throat "coming! One sec." He dragged himself out of bed and rushed—as well as he could that early—to the door. "Hang on." He added as he unlocked deadbolt after deadbolt. 

He pulled the door as far as the chain would let him and squinted out. His neighbour stood there, cheerfully holding out a package. Kevin could clearly see his name on it so he snaked a hand out through the gap and grabbed it with a grunt. He very briefly felt bad for the shocked look on the bubbly girl's face, but got over it the second his head hit the pillow again. 

* * *

Kevin looked up at the subway style clock and swore. Shit. Trivia night started soon, and it was already starting to be busy with people he recognised setting up camp at their regular tables. The rowdy college group with more redheads in it than statistically likely, the sweet couple that do so badly but always with a smile, the ridiculously good-looking guy hidden away in the corner, behind the trendy free-standing fireplace. 

All regulars but all strangers. To him and mostly to each other. 

He knew one half of the happy couple was called Garth as he was the friendliest man he'd ever met, and he'd introduced himself the first time he came in a year ago. 

The college lot exclusively used nicknames—unless Charles was a girl’s name now, Ro Ro and Loki were legit monikers for mature students and Banana had become as popular as Apple and Moon. He shrugged to himself as he wiped down the counter. 

The ridiculously handsome man who came in early and alone was a total mystery. He always ordered basic black coffee—the kinda shit you could get for a buck in a diner—a slice of whatever pie they had, then sequestered himself away with a book until the quiz started. 

Kevin checked the clock again, his part-timer would be here soon, freeing him up to assemble the sound system and start the first round. The trivia night had been a stroke of genius, setting his cafe apart from the others close to campus. He skipped the liquor license after finding out how many people preferred tea or coffee anyway and he'd grown the collection of pressè and cordials to an impressive array that had proved popular. 

The bell over the door announced Patience's arrival and Kevin smiled in relief, slipping off his apron and handing it over. 

"Hey Patience, I'm just gonna…" He gestured over his shoulder to the tiny stage and Patience saluted amiably. Kevin scurried over and set up quickly. He cleared his throat, still nervous despite months of doing this weekly. 

"Okay folks, welcome! Most of y'all know the drill, you've all got pens and paper on your tables, I'll read out the questions and you answer them. Easy. Oh and NO PHONES." He glared meaningfully at the redhead known as Charles and she looked away sheepishly. 

Looking around, he noticed that Weird Tea Dude hadn't come this week; he usually made it with seconds to spare and ended up near the door. He often ran off right after the scores were announced, so Kevin assumed he was perhaps here on his way home from work. He'd be there next week or never again. There really was no way of telling as he'd never shared more than a few words with the man, and all of those were tea related. 

"Okay, heeere we go!" He consulted his tablet (ugh, man, this thing always gave him a headache) and just as he was about to start, the door to the cafe opened with a bang, the bell jingling madly. Half the room jumped and looked around to stare at the tall disheveled man who'd just come in. The wind whipped up his trench coat and mussed his hair. The dodgy neon sign across the street lit him haphazardly and Kevin knew he would never forget that entrance. The man bit his lip and raised a hand apologetically as he hurried to the nearest empty chair (a stool set against the counter) and pulled a smart silver pen from his inside pocket. Poised, he nodded at Kevin to continue. 

"Australia is wider than the moon. True or false?" 

The teams whispered to each other, Ken Doll in the corner chewed on his pen thoughtfully and Windswept Stranger wrote down his answer immediately. 

"What year was Led Zeppelin's first album released?" Kevin frowned when he heard a snort in the quiet room, and he looked over to see Off Duty Model leaning over his paper to answer the question. Team Redhead were having a whispered argument, Garth and his wife were smiling amiably but Trenchcoat McBlue Eyes was glaring at the paper in front of him like he was trying to smite it. He eventually scribbled a note down then looked up, ready for the next question. 

"Who said 'We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives…'? Bonus point if you can finish the quote." Kevin knew that was a mean one but he was pretty sure at least one of the students was taking a literature course. In fact, the short guy known as Loki shifted excitedly in his seat and whispered urgently into Ro Ro's ear, she wrote it down diligently and Loki sat back, looking smug. 

Kevin looked around, giving a little more time for this one. Avenging Angel, still in his trenchcoat, was glaring even harder now and Kevin wouldn't be surprised if the paper burst into flames. The other teams still whispered to each other and Hot Lumberjack was just sitting back, bowlegs crossed. 

"Okay, this next one is an art-slash-geography question." Very tiny back straighten from Trenchcoat and equally tiny back slump from Flannel. Interesting. "What town is featured in van Gogh's Starry Night?" 

Of course, Trenchcoat gets his answer down immediately, Flannel's pen goes into his mouth and the teams whisper feverishly. 

It goes like this for every question, the two lone men taking it in turns to seem stumped or confident in their answers, that is until the first technology question. 

"What does HTML stand for?" 

Despite it being a pretty easy question (proven by the College Team's derisive laugh), Bowlegs van Hotness sat back defeated, rubbing his face. Sex Hair made it even worse by running his hands through it in frustration. Hmm, so tech knowledge wasn't their thing apparently. 

Garth and partner answered, the various teams put at least something down and, as far as he could tell, the two guys left the space blank. 

The question portion usually lasted an hour or so, with another half hour for scoring and prizes. So at minute fifty, Kevin wandered around the room, collecting papers and taking drinks orders. Black coffee, latte, virgin purple nurple, several cappuccinos (one decaf), a weird tea, and one glass of milk. 

Kevin looked over to Patience, who was already engaged in making a half dozen coffees and he marvelled at either her hearing or her precognisense. Either way, he was lucky to have her. 

He pulled up a stool behind the counter and began to mark the quizzes. One of the bigger teams won of course, as there's really only so much one or two people can contribute after all. 

Although, Chiselled O'Jawline did pretty damn well each week. In fact, he and Tall, Dark and Handsome seem to have a tie for third this time around. Curiouser and curiouser. 

Kevin decided right there and then to stop using table numbers to tell who from whom and made a mental note to update the rules on the cafe's website and signage. He was fed up not knowing any of the people who came in so often. The girl named Charles was about his age and she often wore t-shirts with equations on them. He could never get close enough to read them without flat out staring at her chest, but he was intrigued. By the shirts, by her bubbliness and by her aptitude for the technology questions. 

Shit. 

He just had an insane idea. All at once. 

Like a message from God himself. 

He grinned like the Cheshire Cat but a commotion at the counter caught his attention and he found Loki and Banana juggling six muffins. Literally juggling the cakes between them. He shook his head and rolled his eyes so hard it hurt. He sure as hell hoped they had already paid for those. 

Charles sat alone at the table, so Kevin took the chance to head over and introduce himself. 

"Charles?" The girl looked up at him and snorted. Kevin could feel the blush spread up his face like wildfire but she seemed to take pity on him and patted the seat next to her. He sat sheepishly. 

"It's Charlie. Only a coupla assholes call me Charles and one of them happens to be the loudest man alive so..." She shrugged. "What can I do for ya, Kev?" Ergh, why was he the only one who had to wear a name tag? So unfair. 

"Um, it's a bit of an odd request actually…" He whispered and she leaned in with wide eyes. "Do you know anyone else here? Besides your team, I mean." 

Charlie glanced around, eyes alighting on the man in the corner. "That guy brooding in the shadows is Dean. He works at my college, I dunno exactly what he does but he parks his gorgeous car in the lot everyday so." She shrugged again. This woman spoke very quickly and left a lot to inference, so he just nodded slowly, thinking.

"And him?" he pointed behind her. 

"Oh, the dreamy one? No, I don't know him. If he's local, one of the others might…?" She waited and Kevin nodded again. 

"Yeah, maybe, could you ask please?" he looked around. "Discreetly." 

Charlie eyed him warily and he added hastily. "It's not for anything weird! I just had an idea that might make quiz night a bit more interesting." She looked intrigued as he’d hoped she would, and she tapped her nose with a wink. 

"Gotcha, I'll ask my people." She vulcan saluted him and he grinned. This was gonna be fun. 

Kevin got everyone's attention by tapping the mic, expectant faces looked up at him and he gulped. Swallowing down his nerves again he began to read out the scores in reverse order. 

"Table four comes in last, table six in at fifth, three in at fourth and a tie with table one and counter at third place! Pretty damn good for a couple of solos!" Kevin noticed both Dean and McDreamy craning to see around the central fireplace at their direct competition. He was struck a moment by the intensity of their locked gazes. Wow, they both must be very competitive! He wondered if they'd come to blows before, or whether they had even met. Dean was always tucked away by the time the other guy swooped in and stayed put near the door. 

Kevin started to second guess himself as he watched them, still staring. Dean was bright red with…anger? Embarrassment? Maybe they did have a history. Hmm. It was hard to tell with Trench Dude's resting bitch face what feelings he had on the matter. Hopefully, with the help of Charlie and a few machinations, he would be able to figure something out to get these two guys to actually work with each other. 

"Oi, Kev…pst…" Kevin shook himself as Charlie whisper-yelled at him. Ah, shit, he may have been standing silently a scooch too long. He caught Charlie's eye and dipped his head between the two men and after she followed his eye line looked back at him, eyes wide and jaw dropped. He nodded gently and she winked with a huge grin and a thumbs up. This confused him and he made another mental note to clarify later. 

"Anyway, sorry, headache, phased out a bit there. Um, table two is second and Team Redhead narrowly took the lead!" 

Charlie's team laughed at the new nickname, it was much better than 'Table Five' after all, then sent Charlie up for their free, fully filled out, loyalty cards. 

As expected Trenchcoat drained his tea, threw some bills on the table and darted out before the rush. He was closely followed by Garth and partner. 

Dean finished up more slowly as Kevin and Patience shuffled around him cleaning up. Charlie and her team were obviously stalling, chatting amongst themselves but casting glances at the man in the corner. Finally—cash left on the table—Dean left, saluting briefly at Kevin before he disappeared into the night. 

The noise level rose considerably the second the door closed, and Kevin boldly pulled up a chair at table five. He was nervous but Charlie beamed at him and pointed to her companions. 

"That's Anna." Banana smiled. "That's Gabriel." Loki nodded. "...and Rowena." Ro Ro wiggled her fingers coquettishly and Kevin felt his face heat up. "I asked about the mystery men and Gabe here tells me that the dreamy one comes into the station all the time." Gabriel pulled a sucker out of his mouth to take over, too loud for the quiet space.

"Yeah, I mean, I don't know his name or anything, but he sweeps past my office, stays for a coupla hours, then sweeps out again." He shrugs. "I DJ at TRCK over on 8th." His voice dropped and he gestured wildly with his candy. "You're listening to Loki on 98.4 fm. Coming in your ears every day at four." Gabe sniggered. "That's my segment." 

The group all roll their eyes as one and Kevin is inclined to agree with them. 

"Whatever, I'm hilarious." Gabe huffed. "Anyway, a few stations share the building and I work with a bunch of people he could easily be visiting so I couldn't tell ya more than that." He shrugged. 

"Okay, thank you Gabriel. What about the lumberjack?" Kevin asked and Charlie giggled. 

"Why don't you ask Annaaaaa?" She singsonged and Anna flushed a dark pink but before she could say anything Charlie continued. "She asked him out. Well, she tried to, but she didn't realise he's actually a professor." Charlie snorted and Anna folded her arms crossly. "Thank you, by the way Kevin, for allowing me to find out that little tidbit!"

"Yeah, well, he's always in henleys and ratty jeans, how the hell was I supposed to know! I thought he was a student!" Anna, if it were possible, got even redder, her skin clashing horribly with her hair for a moment and Charlie patted her shoulder with a soft smile. Anna unclenched and smiled back. 

Crisis of friendship averted, Kevin spoke.

"Okay, so Professor Dean and Mysterious Station Visitor isn't a huge amount to go on but it's more than I knew before. Any help would be appreciated...?" Kevin trailed off and the group stared at him. "Free drink in it for you?" At that, the students grinned and nodded. 

Rowena checked the delicate watch on her slim wrist and tutted. "Well, boys and girls, I'm going home. Gabriel, might I trouble you for a lift?" 

"Of course! Lead the way, fair lady." 

Kevin was beginning to think 'eyeroll' was the default reaction to Gabe.

The lights around them flicked off as Patience delivered the not so subtle hint that she'd like to go home now so, after their goodbyes and promises to see each other again next week, Kevin lead them to the door and after a very quick and surprising squeeze from Charlie, he turned to find Patience, in her jacket with purse in hand. 

"Thanks Patience, see you tomorrow." 

"It's nice to see you engage with people, Kevin." She patted his arm and smiled softly. "It will do you some good." She left without another word and, considering this sentiment, he locked the door behind her. 

* * *

Busy with couples and families, the weekend passed as usual and soon it was Monday. Charlie came in for her usual pre-lecture cappuccino but this time she grinned easily and asked how Kevin's weekend was. The small talk was new, and Kevin found himself enjoying it, answering positively and reciprocating. Both were aware of the queue, so it was a short conversation but ultimately pretty rewarding, putting Kevin in a good mood for the rest of the day. 

Tuesday came as inevitably as Monday did. Today Gabriel and Rowena came in for tea together, flirting loudly as they queued. This time Kevin asked them how their weekend had been and Gabe, amazingly, blushed hard and Rowena smirked. Ah. Kevin quickly changed the subject by taking their order and ushering them to a cozy table. 

Wednesday came and went with another amiable visit from Charlie, accompanied by Anna, both smiling broadly and indulging in a pastry each. He'd served Dean and Trenchcoat once each but seeing as their policy was to write the order on the cup, rather than a name, he was no closer to identifying the other man. He knew that he didn't need to know anything about them to get them to team up, but after his initial investigation, and the—less than friendly reaction they had to each other at the previous quiz—he knew he had his work cut out for him and, frankly, he found himself excited by the challenge. It reminded him of his research days at college and Charlie's enthusiasm only enticed him further. Everyone has a hobby, right? 

Thursday brought Gabe in with news of Strangely Intense but waited until he had his free drink in hand before divulging the 'intel' as he put it. Good timing meant no queue, so Kevin ushered Gabriel to a counter seat and waited. 

Dramatic as always Gabriel pulled a chocolate bar out of his sleeve with a flourish. "So, this guy comes marching past my office as usual. Coat swishing about, the works. So, with dignity and poise, I leapt up and after him. He's quick, lemme tell ya. I thought he'd vanished into thin air at one point. Anyway, he disappeared through a door with a keypad so I couldn't follow but…" he munched slowly. "When he came back out, I followed him again." 

Kevin was surprised this near stranger would go to such (borderline illegal) lengths and it must have shown on his face as Gabe continued. "I was bored. Plus, it's kinda exciting spying on people." He looked from side to side, comically exaggerating a classic spy move. "And, he went into that big ass building on Main. Fisher House. Y'know, the vet place?" 

"He's a vet? He got that blue whale question wrong though."

Gabe snorted. "Nah, VetERAN place. Looks like he's ex-military. Explains the face like thunder. Not hugely helpful, I'm afraid." 

"No, but thank you." Kevin said, sincerely. While not very useful information it was still nice to share a hot chocolate with Gabriel as they discussed Gabe's idea of broadcasting trivia night. Letting listeners answer in real time online. Kevin was particularly impressed by this idea as his mother struggled to leave the house these days and this way she could participate. 

A couple of days later, and properly motivated by the promise of a fudge blondie, Gabe managed to grab more information on the mysterious man in beige. Captain Castiel James Novak. An ex-officer of the United States Army, technical consultant to a dramatic thriller type podcast and, CEO of a charitable organisation that provides aid to homeless vets. "Oh, and major critic of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy and was a big player in it getting repealed in twenty-eleven." Gabe waggled his eyebrows suggestively. 

Kevin felt even more intimidated by the stormy customer now that he knew he was a saint, as well as kinda scary. Gabe finished up his dessert and Kevin packed up another to take away with him. 

Another trivia night passed, much the same as the last one, though this time Team Redhead came in early to hang out with Kevin and stayed a while after to chat. He walked home with a spring in his step and went to bed that night with a smile on his face. 

* * *

Too early the next morning in the cafe, Charlie bound in, full of energy, and Kevin stopped cleaning to give her his full attention. 

"Kev, Kev, Kev! Hey, listen! I spoke to Dean!" Charlie damn near shouted and half a dozen patrons turned in their seats. She raised her hand in apology and with a few frowns they all went back to what they were doing. "Okay, anyway, I bumped into him in the cafeteria." he had this satchel with him, absolutely covered in pins and patches. Oh em gee, this bag. I wantsss it." She hissed and rubbed her hands together, much to Kevin's confusion (as usual). "Anywaaay, I told him as much and he laughed, and I laughed, and we chatted about the 'Wars, which captain was the best, y'know, bonding and shit, over pie. He's pretty rad for an old dude."

Kevin, having just had ninety percent of the one-sided conversation fly entirely over his head, just nodded. 

"Anyway, he's an anthropology professor. Says he finds 'people and their crap fascinating'. Probably because he was an army brat. Lived all over with his little brother, who's some social worker in the city. Tough gig, huh?" Kevin would have agreed with her if she'd paused longer so he just nodded. 

"He's 38, lives on Bunker Avenue, um, what else…" she tapped her lips thoughtfully. "Oh yeah, his name is Winchester, he's an Aquarius and, I quote, 'queer AF'" she grinned broadly. "Which is the main thing, I guess.' 

He wasn't sure he agreed with that bit. 

"In fact, I woulda suggested his new 'teammate'," She winked lewdly "but I didn't want to piss on your parade or anything." 

Kevin supposed he would have been a little disappointed if he didn't get to see it play out. He squeezed her forearm warmly and slid a piece of cake he had just plated, across the counter, with her usual order. She beamed at him, wallet in hand but he waved her off. 

"On the house, for the info and for, y'know, this." He gestured between them. Her smile slipped into to something sympathetic before broadening again. 

"You're pretty cool, man. Come sit with me?" He glanced at the clock, around at the mostly empty room, then checked his internal timetable. Patience will be in soon enough. 

"Okay." He poured his coffee, grabbed more cake and followed an excited Charlie to a counter seat. 

He'd been able to sit a while as he took his full break, a rare occurrence simply because he never had anything to do before. Charlie was refreshing, in that she declared that they were now friends, had grabbed his phone off him to text herself, then immediately sent him a .gif of a cat falling off a sofa. 

Trivia night had come around again, quicker than he anticipated, and he scurried around to rearrange tables. He had a cunning plan to get Dean and Captain Novak at the same table, and it involved the 'leaking duct' above Dean's table. The very man came in as usual and sat at his usual table. The cafe quickly filled up and once every chair was taken, bar the two reserved seats at the counter, he turned on the heating. The bag of ice Kevin had stashed in the duct began to melt and drip on Dean's table. 

By this point, Castiel had taken his usual seat and Kevin ushered Dean over to the seat next to him. "This is the only seat, I'm afraid." Kevin mumbled and he couldn't look him in the eye, he never was a very good liar. He hurried away to the sounds of Dean pulling out a chair and the vague beginnings of an introduction. Okay, that was fine. Easy. He settled himself behind the new equipment Gabe had brought to make an announcement. 

"Good evening everyone. We're trying a new online participation…thing so bear with us while we set up. Another change is using team names instead of table numbers. Call yourself whatever you wish, just have it written on the top before you hand it in. Um…" He had no idea how to get the two men to actually work together but he blurted out, two loudly, a weird non-sequiter for good measure. "Two heads are better than one!" Several people threw him odd looks and Charlie snorted less than discreetly behind him. "Yes, well, few more minutes people."

Embarrassed, but pleased, Kevin nudged Charlie. "All set with the stream?" 

"Almost, your WiFi is shit."

Kevin ignored that and glanced around the room. Ah! He slapped Charlie's arm with the back of his hand. 

"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie! Success!" 

"What?! Has it happened?" She clutched at his arm dramatically. 

Kevin looked down at her, puzzled. He gestured to the two men sharing a table with their heads bent over a sheet of paper. 

"Can't you see? They're a team now…?" 

Charlie stared at him, looked at the guys in question, then back at Kevin eyes narrowed. 

"Do you mean to tell me, this whole time, all of this research and effort…was to get them to do trivia night together!? Seriously!?" She hissed. "What the frack, dude?" 

"Yes…? What else?" Kevin had a sinking feeling this was one of those (many) times he had grabbed the wrong end of the stick entirely. "They did so well apart on opposing questions that I thought I could get them together." 

Charlie slapped herself in the forehead. "Are you kidding me? Why did it take so long?" 

"Well, I thought they hated each other! They were always glaring!" He spread his hands helplessly. "What did you think we were doing!?" 

"I thought we were getting them together. Like," She stuck a finger of her right hand through the circled fingers of her left, thought better of it and just smooshed her two forefingers together and shrugged. "I dunno how it works, anyway…we still have work to do. Can't believe this was your goal. I could have managed this days ago." She pinched the bridge of her nose. 

Ohhh, Kevin tilted his head and really looked at Dean and Castiel. Heads close, knees brushing under the table, the shy glances and blushes. Okay, maybe Charlie had a point, but what now? 

"Okay, you have a point. What now?" 

Charlie sighed. "There's not much to do now, I guess? Your (weird) mission is accomplished but for mine…" she hummed thoughtfully. "We can use the quiz to lead them in the right conversational direction. Gimme that tablet, how long do we have?" 

Kevin looked over to the stage. "Gabe's still fiddling with the new mic, said the tone was wrong or something." He rolled his eyes. "So, we may get away with starting late today. Ten minutes?" 

Charlie nodded, more seriously than he'd ever seen her before, and bent her head over the tablet, fingers moving rapidly. Kevin tried to watch but Charlie typed as fast as she spoke, so he soon gave up. Fifteen minutes later, Gabe whistled to Kevin and he slowly made his way to the stage, Charlie following closely, still tapping. She handed the amended quiz over and shot back to her chair. 

Rowena and Anna had joined Garth and his wife, Bess, for this evening as Charlie and Gabe were busy being tech support. They gave Kevin the thumbs up and he cleared his throat. 

"Sorry for the delay, let's get right to it. Question one: Place these military designations in order of rank." He listed six armed forces titles and smiled when he saw Dean and Castiel bring their heads together, whispering excitedly. 

The questions were tailored to the men's common ground and Kevin was happy to see their enthusiasm. Charlie grinned at him everytime he caught her eye and Gabe looked like the cat that got the canary. When the time came to grade the quizzes, he noticed that despite the former prowess of Dean and Cas, they hadn't managed to answer a single question. Kevin stared down at the sheet of paper, Team Foxtrot-whiskey scrawled across the top of the otherwise blank sheet of paper, puzzled, until he looked over to see their hands joined across the table.

* * *

A year later and the happy couple had joined the redheads, although Anna had since finished up at college and moved away much to Charlie's disappointment, to make a killer team. Kevin really had his work cut out for him to come up with questions that might give the other teams a chance. 

Kevin certainly owed a lot to this little idea that had grown so popular, and to The Destiel Plan (dubbed this by Charlie when regaling Dean with the story, much to his amusement and Kevin's embarrassment) that brought his little rag tag group of friends together to create the family he didn't know he'd been waiting for.


End file.
